Lonely Paths

The Seeker

It is colder here than it used to be. Darker, less inviting. He could see the people that used to live here – happy, going about their jobs, loving, living, until they realized they were too late to repair the damage they had inflicted upon their home world.

'They were like us', he thought as he broke out of the vision and looked up. There, beyond the murky skies, was the lone white moon of the planet. He knew they had tried to settle there, he could see the efforts, the years that it took to accomplish that feat. And as he looked at the moon, he knew they had succeeded. He felt a twinge of disappointment. He had to go up there to see more clearly but he knew without doubt that there was nobody there anymore. They had moved beyond their moon.

He returned his gaze to the ground. It had been centuries since anyone walked on this planet. The old structures had crumbled. Nature had tried to take back what was stolen from it but it would take longer than a few centuries to recover from the ravaging it endured.

To his right, he could hear a sound. He moved towards it and came to a water body that appeared a murky green under the setting sun. It stretched out towards the horizon. The waves broke leaving grey foam on the shore. He approached the water with caution and dipped a gloved appendage into it. He could feel the warmth, the minerals that still lingered, and the traces of primitive life that had started again during the absence of the dominant species in that water. He scooped up some of it and tasted it.

***

When he came to, the sky had darkened considerably. He could barely make out the moon through the dust that hovered in the atmosphere – there were no stars. It was a mistake to drink the liquid, he chided himself as he felt the reprimands of the Monitor and his companion in his mind. He had become careless in his despondency. That was the curse of the Seekers, and one they were trained to avoid. They become reckless when faced with seeming failure. He was better than that. He would just move on from this place and go in search of this species even if it takes him across the wide expanse and to the very edge of oblivion. That was what he was destined for, what he had signed up for.

He walked back to his ship. He would make a customary stop on the moon to find any clues as to his next destination and then leave this sad system behind. He looked back at the seemingly innocuous water body one more time hesitantly as he stepped in.

***

He looked around at the settlements and temporarily forgot his disappointment. This, just this - this desire to find out more, to learn new things, to seek his target across space – this curiosity and hope is what keeps him going, what drives all the Seekers spread across the universe, traveling further and further from their own home, leaving behind their Tethers in search of something they might never find. He knew there isn't anyone here on this moon anymore but having walked through these homes they lived in makes him think it was all worthwhile.

He went through all the settlements, looked at the objects they used, the bases they built and found out the direction in which they had left. It was not much but he would relay back this information and see more as he travelled in their wake. He would just check out one last settlement and be on his way.

Most of the bases had lost their form over time leaving behind metal ruins. He could see asteroid rains that happened in the past after the species left, but some while they were still here. They had pushed the dead into space – maybe they believed that was a good way to honour them. He could imagine the bodies floating far away from their home, making journeys of their own to places their living selves might've only dreamed of.